New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-06-26
BUCKETS FULL OF GOLD.
THE STORY OF DIR. CRAZY.

company of us, forty men in ALL for we "efv soiio
to turn the river in order to work the spot klow II
as "the deep pool" We all knew that we hau u
sure thing for the bars just above and Delow hau
hao, rich and il was well known that THE poO
hole as il was called, must be much rcher' ior
it was the deepest place anywhere In the Nicills'
and we had prospected 1T slightly py coher u"nS
getting splendid prospects, but never ape ~ 80
the bed rock on account Of the lnrush Oh "aCer'
A lot of our BOYS had worked above and Delow,
and were very comfortably fixed. we were hno"h
20 be the richest company on the river, ana haVlhs
rs have said, O dead sure thing, our creoio was
good anywhere within ten miles III was tlic Gus,
tom i'm those days with the strong companies W
buy almost everything credit and pay ont OF tie
first clean up. couple of weeks generally pald
off old scores and left clean run for the REMAINDER
OF the season.
We had a very pretty camp high and dry on the
upper bar as it was called forty feet above inc oe
of the channel Here were several clusters Oh
fine old live oak and white oak trees Chuer lesc
we ntched our tents, and up our brush sheiter'
we all messed together for the sake OF conNehlc
The camp clearinghouse was built Oh shaNes'
We had o frst-rate Chinese cook, and Chhese pos
IN clean dishes chop wood and do chores. lheie
were some mighty nice fellows IN thai COMPANY
II il was "a mixed crowd We were known as
.The COSMOPOLITAN Company" Tor the reason, L
suupose that we had among us French, spanish
oituguese English, Danes, Swedes, NorweSlailS'
Canadians-and what not ? We had sailors, cap
a sail-maker a farmer schOol-master, ana so OIL
NV partner and L were, think, the only men IN Ihe
company without trade. l was not much more
than boy then, and had never settled down 10
anything. / came out to California from lrincc
Edwards Island in 1850 on one oil my uncles
ships, expecting to go back on her; but when the
first and second mate, cook, doctor and all hands
scattered for the mines, thought IL about Time
for me to GO too for what use would 1t have been
for me to stay by the shlpi
had had but one partner since was In the
mines; that was Harry Knox, Vlrglman-the
finest fellow that ever lived, believe. Poor leI-
low he is dead long since. Harry went win Tue
into the Cosmopolitan Company, and we camled TO-
cether as usual We had little tent beneath one
of the fine old live oaks 1t was mighty com,
Portable can tell you after cooking ior ones sen
So long, TO have our grub cooked Tor Us, our "Vou
CHOPPED. dishes cleaned and SO on 10 have ho0h-
ing 10 do about the camp alter work, eXcelG 10
wash our flannel shirts and repair damages 1h'O
was the arts ociacy OF mining We dressed our
selves up until were ocular dandleS on ounudSs'
when VIC were OFF duty, and were gehelalls Us
nicely fixed as snug and comfortable as could De-
| never took kindly TO any sort OF domestic "olh'
hut Harry was as smart as a woman with needle,
and as bright and useful about camp; ana me-
Knowing my weakness, took care that had little
or nothing of womans work to do An lhose were
hanpy careless, independent days we mad spieh,
did mess The Canadians saw TO IL that we iiad
plenty of fish from the river, fine salmon III the
season. The Indians brought US fine Nenlson, ana
we used to kill lots of small game for ourselves,
such as "cottOn-tails," "JacliasS raDDlus, qudh
and the like.
Our captain-the captain Of our company-was a
little bit of q fellow from Mane-the smallest man
i'm the crowd | beievc-but he was tough asa pine
knot Ills name was Paine Somehow he dldh
look small, even when he was alongside OF larger
men for he stood square and linn, as thoush ne
took hold of the ground-held himself straight
kent his head wei up, and had manly, large
hearted way with him. lie always wore a gray
suit OF some sort of strong homespun, and yellow
felt hat Both must have been OF excellent quailty
Tor cannot remember that lie ever changed them
lie always looked exactly the same-Sundays, week
DAYS holidays and all times. lie was a lallher
but good at any sort Of work; knew how TO lay
hold of anything aid everything could use any
sort of tool never lost his temper always had
plcasant smile Oh his face and a pleasant word on
his tongue. His under lip projected Just the least
bit, remember he had rather fair complexion
n high color, and spoke just little through his
nose-but very little-Just enough to be pleasant
for we ali liked him. and therefore liked his pecu-
erites. lie talked very seldom, gave his orders
shorty and briefly, but without the least attemlt
ut bossing, and nobody ever thought oil dlspuung
him for he always did exactly the right thing III
the right way, and everybody knew it. After he
left mining he settled on fine farm in Wisconsin,
[ have heard, and became a very prosperous man.
l must describe the lay Of the land TO make
:hings clear. The PRINCIPAL feature Of the surround
mss was the liable Mountain AT the time
thought 1t only local phenomenon, and we used
To wonder a great deal how IL came TO be 81 Hat
Its course was, appeared to be, Diagonal TO the
Stanislaus, and crossed the river six or eight
miles above us. l say crossed the river. when
should say, suppose, the river crossed II. Where
the stream had cut throu h. the walls fell from the
surface perpendicularly eral hundred feet, and
then slanted down 70 the bend Of the river at an
angle of forty-fve degrees thereabouts, covered
with dense growth OF chappaial. There q
trail right back Of our camp which led across the
tableland TO Jim Town. The mountain seemed to
make q horseshoe bend in there and right III the
bend there was q strong spring Of water which made
o green patch all the year round, very noticeable
among the dry, barren surroundings. Below a
mile two the canon, and from where the
ta6le-land was cut by the stream down the canon,
eight ten miles in ALL had been the richest
portion OF the river. About mile above the
canon there ford where the trail crossed to
strike the Stockton road. That was the way homo,
and We boys used TO look at it wistfully enoug Oh
sometimes, especially when we were little down
ON our luck This trail was quite cutoff to Jim
Town. though 1t was not much travelled, being
ony known 70 those familiar with that part OF the
country. Looking right across the river the land
rohsd, making the round hills, so familiar to
Cahiornians, partly covered with dense under
growth OF chapparal and manzanita then shayen
perfectly smooth, and in the spring yellow p,,rnlc
pink and amethyst with o varying growth OF wild
.'s ~s". Our par was the prettiest spot on the
"oie rNef' partly because il was high and enabled
us TO look around, partly because of the fine old
trees already mentioned.
one sunday In April, q little before noon Harry
And were lying down under the live oaks. taking
1t easy after q pretty hard weeks work when q
strange looking old fellow came up the Jim Town
trails which crossed the bar just back of our
camp lie was driving three heavily packed mules,
ruth INT h.